


with nobody in your bed (the night's hard to get through)

by swisher201



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Camping Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-29
Updated: 2015-08-29
Packaged: 2018-04-17 22:56:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4684421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swisher201/pseuds/swisher201
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy and Nico go camping.</p>
            </blockquote>





	with nobody in your bed (the night's hard to get through)

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own any of these characters.

Nico had been watching the clouds roll in all day, convinced that it would start pouring any minute now. His feet ached and he was too tired to admit how hungry he was. All he wanted to do was lay down and sleep, but it would be hours before he could. Percy was walking in front of him, hitching up his backpacking backpack every few minutes or so, creating an obnoxious rattling of the pots and pans he was in charge of carrying. The path they were walking on was narrow and didn’t allow for many resting spots. Nico wasn't quite sure why he let Percy convince him to come, but it supposedly had to do with "friendship bonding".

It had been annoying when Percy decided that he really wanted to be Nico's friend. He had always been Nico’s friend, but now he was obsessed with getting to know every detail about Nico’s life. The son of Hades had an idea that it had something to do with Percy feeling guilty about Bianca, but he denied it every time Nico tried to tell him he wasn’t angry. Nico eventually gave up, and Percy had jumped at the chance to spend every waking moment shadowing Nico and trying to weasel his way into Nico’s life and never letting Nico get a moment alone.

Nico didn't like Percy. (What he meant to say was, he didn’t have a crush on him anymore.) He thought Percy was beautiful and enjoyed looking at him, but he no longer felt that annoying twist in his stomach when he encountered the other boy unexpectedly, or blushed when Percy acknowledged his presence. No, it definitely wasn’t a crush. Nico probably would, however, take whatever Percy offered him if he ever got the chance.

Nico watched Percy walking, taking in everything from how his dark hair looked to the way his shoes were worn down in the back. Nico let his eyes slide around to look at the trees around them, and then at the mountains in the background. He had to admit, Yosemite was a beautiful place, and the fresh air was nice.

Percy stopped a few minutes later, and pointed at a giant rock in the distance.  _"Look!"_ He said, "It's Half Dome!" Nico smiled at the smile on Percy's face. He liked it when people around him were happy. Percy's shoes made scuff marks in the dirt path as he bounced up and down excitedly. "My mom always told me about the travelling she did before she was born and she always said California was her favorite."

"Why didn't she move there?"

Percy flushed a little, as he always did when talking about his mom and Poseidon. "She met dad, and had me, and wanted me to be safe. I guess she could go now, but her whole life is there now. She's having another baby, you know. I'm gonna be a big brother!" The whole world seemed to be filled with excitement in that moment. Watching Percy so excited, it was as if none of the wars had happened, and Percy and Nico were just two regular college friends on vacation.

Nico's gut filled with longing and he wondered how his life might've been if he'd never moved away from Italy. If he'd never been stuck with the Lotus Eaters or had even been born mortal. He wouldn't have met Jason, or Percy for that matter, but what if there was something better back there? Nico shook his head and turned back to Percy.

"Wow, that's...wow. Congratulations. Is it going to be a boy or girl?"

Percy scrunched his nose up. "She doesn't find that out for another three weeks or so, but personally I don't care. A boy would be cool, but so would a girl."

Nico nodded, and they continued to walk.

.

As Nico predicted, it started raining just as the sun started going down. It was just a light drizzle, nothing he couldn't handle. They found their camping spot, a nice, flat area in a ring of trees. He could hear the nymphs calling to each other happily, singing rain songs and talking and laughing with their neighbors. Nico set up both tents while Percy made a fire and tried to get a pot of water boiling over the makeshift stove. Nico sat inside the threshold of his tent and pulled off his boot with an appreciative sigh. He wiggled his toes, relieved at the freedom, and yanked off the other one. He laid back on the sleeping bag and let his body relax for the first time in a long time.

"Getting comfortable over there?" Percy called from the campfire, which Percy was directing water away from. Nico wiggled his feet in answer and threw his arm over his eyes.

"What's for dinner?"

"We have some instant lasagna, or soup."

Nico sat up.  _"Instant lasagna?"_ Percy laughed at the scandalized look on his face. "I mean, how even is that possible? I'll have the soup. You can risk it with the freeze dried poison."

They sat by the fire on crappy little fold up chairs and ate soup out of the can and instant freeze dried lasagna. After much coaxing, Percy finally managed to shove a spoonful of lasagna into Nico's mouth, who frowned and glowered at Percy.

"You  _suck_ ," he said so firmly that Percy couldn't help but burst out laughing. Nico stuck his hands out over the fire to warm them up, and zipped his jacket up higher while Percy got up to pee into a bush. He smiled: this camping trip hadn't been a total failure, and he was actually enjoying the time he was spending with Percy.

They lit separate lanterns and bid each other goodnight. Nico changed into his pajamas and climbed under the mountain of blankets and sleeping bag. The ground was uncomfortable but not unbearable, and Nico let his body give into the exhaustion that had been pulling at him for hours.

Nico wasn't sure how much time had passed when he woke up again. He yelped and scooted away from Percy, who was hovering over his feet. "Percy!" he hissed, "what the hell?!"

Percy looked sad, cold, and tired. "I'm sorry for scaring you, but my tent has a big hole in it and every time I fall asleep I lose control over where the rain goes. Would it be alright if I slept in here tonight? It's ok if you say no. I know this tent is really small." Nico scooted over and patted the blankets beside him. Percy, with his bundle of jackets and blankets gratefully curled up in the small space and zipped the tent closed again.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Are you cold?" Percy's chattering teeth were the cause of Nico throwing several more blankets over the son of Poseidon, and pulling him closer. He rolled over to flick the lantern off, and rolled back into his previous sleeping spot. About five minutes later, Nico became painfully aware of how close he was to Percy. Percy's nose was an inch away from his lips, and his cold, clammy feet and hands seemed to brush up against Nico no matter how he shifted to get away from them. Nico's heart sped up and there was no way he was tired now.

"Stop touching me with your cold feet!" Nico snapped, and Percy jerked the foot that had been trying to leech warmth from Nico's leg away.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. The movement, however, had caused Percy's face to get closer to his own. Nico was going to do it. It was now or never. He let out a shaky breath before slamming his eyes shut and pressing his lips against Percy's in an awkward, closed-mouth kiss. Percy let out a squeak of surprise, but it was short-lived. Nico pulled away and stared off at the corner of the tent. Percy's lips had been warm against his own, and the feeling of his breath against his face had made his palms sweaty.

It was Nico's turn to be in shock when Percy, very shyly, returned the gesture. He could feel Percy's leg trying to weasel its way in between his own. Percy's fingers latched onto Nico's wrist and he licked into the son of Hades' mouth in a slow kiss. It was such a strange, foreign feeling to have Percy's tongue in his mouth that Nico wasn't quite sure what to do except kiss him back best he could at the angle they were at. Eventually, Nico pulled away for breath.

Percy leaned in for one last peck before letting his body relax. "Goodnight Nico."

"Night, Percy." Nico pulled Percy close, feeling the fabric of his soft shirt contrast of the rougher sweatpants. He heard Percy's breathing even out into slow, steady breaths long before he could even think about sleeping. He hugged the beautiful boy close, and wondered if this meant he was finally Nico's.

He hoped so.


End file.
